Chapter 364: What Kind of Spirit Is This?

"I truly know nothing of this. I only beg Your Majesty to grant me a chance — I am willing to sacrifice family ties for the greater justice!"

When the King of Wei summoned him and laid before Peng Chong the crimes his younger brother had committed — embezzling funds while seizing the private property of anti-Wei magnates in Youfufeng — the Commandant of Justice was shocked and, on reflex, requested the order to handle the case himself, to prove his innocence.

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The man's ability was indeed mediocre. Not only could he not manage his own family, but even his household slaves were usually quite overbearing, swaggering through the streets on the authority of the Commandant of Justice's office.

"That won't be necessary."

Diwu Lun looked at Peng Chong and recounted two stories from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

"During the reign of Marquis Cheng of Zhao, Liang Che served as County Magistrate of Ye County. His own elder sister went to visit him. She arrived after dark, and the city gates were already shut, so she climbed over the outer wall to enter..."

At this point Diwu Lun paused and said with a smile, "That city wall must have been truly low."

Indeed — just like the cost of breaking the law in his new regime, all too easily surmounted. It was precisely because the system was newly and hastily built, with gaps so large, and because there were not even enough reliable scholars to repair the "walls" of the system, that so many problems had erupted in such a short time.

Peng Chong knew the rest of that allusion. Liang Che then, according to the law, cut off his own elder sister's feet — which could also be considered sacrificing family ties for justice. But Marquis Cheng of Zhao thought Liang Che lacked compassion, so he took back his official seal and dismissed him from office.

The second matter Diwu Lun spoke of was from Chu in the Spring and Autumn period. The minister Shi She caught a murderer, only to discover it was his own father. He therefore released his father and went to the King of Chu to offer his own life for the crime. In the end, he committed suicide and died by the law.

Strangely, over the centuries, the world's moral judgment has been overwhelmingly critical of Liang Che, who enforced the law impartially, while Shi She has been praised without end — a tendency that has only grown stronger since the Han dynasty.

When a father steals a sheep, and the son testifies against him; when a father conceals for his son, and a son conceals for his father — which is the upright man? The standard of judgment in this age clearly leans toward the latter.

"Commandant of Justice, do you wish to be Liang Che, or Shi She?"

Peng Chong was terrified. He wanted neither to lose his office nor to commit suicide, and for a moment did not know how to answer. Diwu Lun smiled and told Peng Chong to stay calm for the moment.

"Since ancient times, justice under the law and filial piety have been difficult to reconcile. So I have thought of a solution."

"From now on, whenever a presiding judge has a relative, in-law, or old acquaintance who breaks the law, he must recuse himself during the trial. In this way, the principle of familial affection can be preserved, and we need not end up like Shi She, who, wishing to fulfill both loyalty and filial duty, had no choice but to take his own life."

Since the practice of kin concealment was deeply entrenched and hard to break head-on, Diwu Lun simply took the opportunity to introduce a recusal system. This would both win him widespread praise from the scholars and prevent future cover-ups by relatives.

"Therefore, in the case of Peng Chun, the Commandant of Justice shall recuse himself for now and hand it over to Commandant Clerk Guo Hong for trial. What say you?"

Only then did Peng Chong breathe a sigh of relief. As the meritorious founding official who had fallen furthest behind, he had originally taken a huge black mark for Diwu Lun by wielding the knife against the magnates north of the Wei, and had just barely gained a slight increase in his household allotment. But now that this affair had occurred, although the rod had not struck him directly, his hopes of being enfeoffed as a marquis were probably dashed...

Peng Chong was about to withdraw resentfully when, unexpectedly, Diwu Lun called him back.

"The clan's Diyi Guan and Diliu Du have violated the Land Seizure Statute, seizing dozens of qing of land from people north of the Wei. Some believe this should be handed over to the Minister of the Imperial Clan for handling, but after much consideration, I hold that the law of the state outweighs family rules. The Commandant of Justice must still shoulder this responsibility and investigate it thoroughly!"

Good heavens, another black pot had arrived! He could recuse himself from his own younger brother's case, but this matter he could not avoid.

From the King of Wei's tone, this matter was to be strictly investigated. Peng Chong knew that afterward, he would inevitably be cursed with the reputation of sowing discord among flesh and blood, and the imperial clan would likely hate him to death. Yet he seemed to grasp at a life-saving straw and immediately prostrated himself:

"Your servant will investigate thoroughly according to the law!"

The clan heads of the Diyi and Diliu branches were sent to the Commandant of Justice for trial. They returned the seized land, and their noble ranks were reduced by one grade, down to "Nan," and they were no longer permitted to serve as branch clan heads.

But Diqi Biao and Disi Xian were not publicly dealt with. Diwu Lun sent Biao a few portions of "congratulatory money," which so terrified Diqi Biao that he immediately wanted to divorce the several concubines sent to him by the urban gallants.

As for Disi Xian, he was summoned into the palace for a small banquet by the King of Wei. Diwu Lun's conversation did not touch in the slightest on the East and West Markets, but after Disi Xian left the palace, he immediately returned the bribes he had accepted from the great merchants.

The system was incomplete, so statecraft filled the gaps. But at least a red line had been drawn: openly seizing land, using one's position to embezzle state assets, and diverting grain issued from the state treasury were all punished with particular severity.

As for the rest of the petty crimes and minor evils, for now they could only be patched up here and there.

In the second month came the spring She sacrifice. In past years, the She day had always been the liveliest time in Diwu Village. But now, many of the imperial clansmen had followed the court into Chang'an, residing in the Northern Palace to accompany the King's grandfather. Thus, the clan's She sacrifice was also moved to the newly completed "King Tian Temple" — the nearby Gao Temple had not yet begun reconstruction, but Tian Heng had already usurped the magpie's nest.

When a king establishes a She altar for the many clans, it is called the Great She. But Diwu Ba always felt that this Great She, for all its apparent ritual propriety, with bronze sacrificial vessels filling the eye and bells ringing at lavish feasts, lacked the lively intimacy of the village She. Looking back, the relatives attending the sacrifice were also listless. The punishment Diwu Lun had meted out a few days ago to the clan's Diyi Guan and Diliu Du had truly terrified them.

Quite a few people also came to plead with Diwu Ba, hoping he would put in a word for them. Wasn't it just a few dozen qing of land?

Diwu Ba was advanced in years and not much of a talker. He called on Diba Jiao by name.

"Jizheng, you say a few words."

Diba Jiao assented. There were some things Diwu Lun could not conveniently say in person, and as Minister of the Imperial Clan, he had to shoulder the responsibility. Diba Jiao also felt that he bore great responsibility for the clan's troubles.

"All of you are relatives of the various Di clans — either my elders, or my fathers and elder brothers. But since I, Jiao, serve as Minister of the Imperial Clan, I have the duty to correct and admonish. Today I shall speak a few plain words."

"Have any of you heard a song called 'The Song of the Five Marquises'?"

The song was familiar to all ears; naturally they had heard it. Diba Jiao said, "After the five Wang marquises were enfeoffed and rose to power, their arrogance knew no bounds. To build their own palaces, they actually bypassed the Du Gate and diverted the waters of the Gaodu River. They also built a high platform in the water that was actually taller than the White Tiger Hall of Weiyang Palace!"

"They wantonly exploited the common people and squandered on a grand scale. The people of Chang'an hated them, and so this song came to be. May I ask you all: where are the Five Marquises now? Where are the imperial clans of the Han and Xin dynasties?"

"It has been barely over ten years since the house of Han was cast aside by all under heaven, and not yet a year since Wang Mang was driven out of Chang'an. Now the King of Wei has entered and taken this city. For us, as members of the imperial clan, if we cannot assist in making the state peaceful and the people secure, that is one thing — but to actually imitate the Five Marquises and seize people's land! Do you wish to hear the common folk begin to sing 'The Song of the Various Di Clans'?"

Diba Jiao continued, "If the imperial clan leads in breaking the law, then the law of the state is hard to enforce. If we rot a little, the State of Wei rots a patch. The realm is not yet settled; the King holds but a single province, with powerful enemies watching on all sides. I urge you all to remember: no egg remains whole when the nest is overturned. The warning mirror is not far off — it lies in the age of Xia after us!"

The crowd was tongue-tied, but there was a faint murmur of dissent: "Minister of the Imperial Clan, you may quote the classics, but the former dynasty's Wang Mang was clearly very harsh toward his own imperial clan — why then did he also fall?"

The speaker was a cousin of Diyi Guan. It was clear he was still not quite convinced.

This was indeed an unavoidable question. Wang Mang had been extremely strict in restraining his imperial clan. The five Wang marquises were all struck down by him, and the sons and younger brothers of the Wang family were put to death at the slightest offense, to the point that they dared not even bully men or violate women. Many people thus believed that the Xin's fall stemmed from the alienation of flesh and blood.

"That is putting the cart before the horse." Diba Jiao laughed involuntarily. "Do you all believe that the King treats the imperial clan with the same harshness as Wang Mang?"

Though no one dared say it outright, in their hearts they all indeed thought so.

Diba Jiao caught his breath slightly and continued, "The King holds that only those with meritorious service may receive rewards, and the imperial clan is no exception. From Diyi to Diba, the heads of each clan who have military merit are marquises, such as the Commandant of the Capital; those with labor are earls, such as myself and the Fourth Uncle."

"But even so, the rest, in consideration of kinship bonds, have been enfeoffed as viscounts and barons, with a village or a hamlet as their fief. Even ordinary clansmen have all been allotted land, owning estates ranging from several qing to several dozen mu."

Diwu Lun had essentially elevated the entire clan to the petty landlord class, with the worst off still at the level of independent yeoman farmers. But the human heart is never satisfied... Many hoped Diwu Lun would raise these several thousand people like pigs, and some even expected that once Diwu Lun declared himself emperor, he would enfeoff the Diyi through Diba as several feudal princes!

But that kind of wishful thinking was utterly shattered today.

Diwu Ba knew his time was short. In other matters he could not help his grandson, but within the clan, he still had to use his authority to keep order. He therefore struck his turtledove staff: "To receive office without merit, to enjoy glory without noble rank — absolutely impossible, even for the imperial clan. This old man's Marquis of Ten Thousand Li title was earned by raising the banner north of the Wei and capturing Changling. Even my own two youngest sons hold no noble rank. The King has given you food and clothing, your own farmland, tenant farmers to help with the labor, and even bestowed houses in the city hamlets. If even this is not enough for you..."

The old man sneered: "Then roll back to Linqu Village and go back to tilling the land yourselves!"

He swept his gaze over those present: "If any of you truly desire the stipend of a village or a county, then by all means enlist and join the army. The front lines are at war in Shangdang and Taiyuan. The soldiers fight in blood, the generals exert their wisdom and courage, expanding the King's territory — only thus can they earn rewards!"

Many immediately shrank back. Those clansmen with the spirit to enlist and earn a better position were already in the army. Those who remained were either too old, too young, or were counting on their "imperial clan" status to gain something for nothing. If this group were allowed to live better than the clansmen in the army, would that not be absurd?

"Even if you are unwilling to take up arms, you can still pursue scholarship." Diba Jiao added, "The clan charity school has been open for several years now. With life in the clan now more comfortable, the number of students has increased to two or three hundred, with several dozen graduating each year. Previously, the system was not yet clear and everything was newly established, so they could be directly selected as Palace Gentlemen."

"But from the first day of the third month onward, even students of the charity school must first pass an examination before becoming officials!"

During the Han and Xin dynasties, the primary method of recruiting scholars still relied on the recommendation system, based on moral reputation, personal connections, old ties, and family assets.

Back in the day, Diwu Lun had exploited a loophole in the system precisely by building a reputation and cultivating fame to get selected. He could say with complete honesty: "No one understands the recommendation system better than I do."

The King of Wei, who had benefited from the recommendation system, now held it in considerable contempt. Yet in the months since he established his regime, his method of recruiting scholars was even worse than the recommendation systems of the Han and Xin dynasties.

Question: "What is currently the main channel for officials to assume office in the State of Wei?"

Answer: "Referrals from acquaintances!"

In the chaos of these troubled times, even the formal recommendation process had been dispensed with. Before Diwu Lun entered Chang'an, he had cobbled together a makeshift team for the Nine Ministers. As for the subordinate officials in the various government offices, they had to be filled in gradually, mostly by retaining officials from the previous dynasty.

But a huge shortfall remained, so a pyramid-scheme-like recruitment drive began: former subordinates would recommend acquaintances or old colleagues. The chief official would conduct a cursory review, and those who passed were hired.

With no unified standards and no rigorous procedures, this was how Peng Chong's younger brother, relying on his elder sibling's connections, managed to slip into the post of Merit Evaluator for the Right Fufeng commandery. In just a few short months, the regime was already a mix of good and bad, with petty officials forming cliques and factions. It could no longer be left unchecked.

"Running water never stagnates, and a door-hinge never gets worm-eaten. We need an infusion of fresh blood."

After some thoroughly disheartening incidents, Diwu Lun reflected on the painful lessons and became all the more convinced that a standardized examination was imperative.

Later generations, upon hearing the word "examination," immediately think of the imperial civil service exams of the Sui and Tang dynasties, unaware that the Han dynasty's examination system had already been in practice for over a hundred years...

In the Chamber of Proclamation, as Diwu Lun was making the final arrangements for the examination on the first day of the third month, he sighed with emotion: "For the mere act of introducing examinations into the world, Dong Zhongshu deserves to be honored with the title 'Master Dong.'"

This Dong Zhongshu had singled out the term "examination" from the Book of Documents and proposed to Emperor Wu of Han: "The method of examination: for the great, it is lenient; for the petty, it is strict. For the noble, it is relaxed; for the lowly, it is pressing."

"The feudal lords shall examine their states monthly, the regional chiefs shall examine their divisions seasonally, with one grand examination every four assessments. The Son of Heaven shall examine the realm yearly, with one grand examination every three assessments. After three successive grand examinations, promotions and demotions shall be determined — this is called the reckoning."

Good heavens — monthly exams, quarterly exams, annual exams, the whole set. Diwu Lun felt he had finally found the source of all evil.

However, the person who truly put the examination system into practice was Dong Zhongshu's fellow disciple, Gongsun Hong, whose major political achievement was the founding of the Imperial Academy.

The examination, as a method of selecting talent parallel to the recommendation system, was placed within the Imperial Academy. Those who completed their studies would all take part in government-organized examinations, shooting at policy questions in the annual tests: forty from the top grade became Gentlemen of the Palace; twenty from the second grade became Attendants to the Crown Prince; forty from the third grade were appointed as Erudites in Literature.

As for those whose examination results were poor and who had not studied diligently at the academy, they were simply sent packing back to their hometowns...

In Han times, the Imperial Academy had few students, and virtually all were guaranteed official posts. By the Xin dynasty, the Academy had expanded its enrollment. With over ten thousand students and only one hundred examination slots per year, the competition had become unbearably fierce. Thus, there were those who studied the classics until their hair turned white, toiling away at the Academy for decades yet failing the exam time and again.

Diwu Lun had specifically ordered Grand Preceptor Zhang Zhan, who oversaw education, to conduct a survey: "The majority of the Imperial Academy students are from the Three Adjuncts region. During the chaos at the end of Wang Mang's reign, most from the outer commanderies fled home, but there are still several thousand scattered across the various counties in the capital region..."

This was also the foundation of Diwu Lun's confidence that he could hold an examination and draw usable scholars into his regime.

The matter was urgent. He simply could not wait for the fry from the new-style public schools to mature. He had to cast his net now and sweep up every last fish in the pond! Use them first and worry about the rest later.

In the Xin dynasty, ten thousand Academy students had fought tooth and nail for a hundred slots. Now that the King of Wei was holding an examination, would none of them show up? There was no such logic in the world.

But once the fish heard the sound of food being scattered and came, whether the mesh of the net was large or small, and what kind of officials would be sifted out — that was for Diwu Lun and the examination content to decide. Once they swam in, they would take on his shape.

"As the final adjudicator, all these scholars will be disciples of the King of Wei, and I will directly serve as their patron!"

At this thought, Diwu Lun could not help but feel grateful once more to that man.

"You scrimped and saved, leaving behind several hundred thousand jin of gold, piled up into mountains. You left it all to me, and it became the capital to start my enterprise. Even now, I haven't used up even a small fraction of it."

"You threw yourself into education, expanding the Imperial Academy's enrollment. You yourself only used it as a backdrop for your laments to Heaven, idly supporting them for nothing — but for me, you stockpiled a cohort of scholars who, in these chaotic times, can at least serve as clerks. Without them, I could never have gotten this examination off the ground."

Diwu Lun was actually starting to miss Wang Mang a little. He chuckled:

"What kind of spirit is this?"